Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced today that he has canceled a planned trip to central Asia after seismologists warned that Japan should prepare for a possible "megaquake".
It is the first time such a warning has been issued since a new warning system was put in place following the devastating 2011 earthquake that triggered a deadly tsunami and destroyed a nuclear power plant.
"As prime minister I have the ultimate responsibility for crisis management and I have decided to stay in Japan for at least one week," Kishida told reporters.
The head of the Japanese government was to travel to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia and planned to participate in a summit involving five countries in the region.
"The probability of a new strong earthquake occurring is higher than under normal conditions, but this does not mean that an earthquake will definitely occur," the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) announced in issuing its warning yesterday, Thursday. after a 7,1-magnitude quake injured eight people in southern Japan, but caused no major damage.
According to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, many of the eight were injured by falling objects.
Japan sits at the crossroads of tectonic plates along the Pacific 'belt of fire' and is one of the most seismically active countries in the world.
In the archipelago, home to about 125 million people, there are about 1.500 earthquakes a year, most of them weak.
Even the most powerful earthquakes generally cause little damage, mainly thanks to the implementation of strict earthquake-proof building regulations and public awareness of protection measures.
The Japanese government has announced that there is a 70% chance that a mega-earthquake will hit the country within the next 30 years.
Such a tremor could hit a large part of Japan's Pacific coast and threaten about 300.000 people, according to experts.
Japan's most powerful earthquake ever recorded was a magnitude 9 earthquake off its northeastern coast on March 11, 2011, which triggered a tsunami that left 18.500 dead or missing.
Source: ieifmerida.gr